Big Splash – November 29, 2010 Convention Centre – John Bassett Theatre

November 29 th was a night to remember as some of our MAC swimmers and parents attended the first annual BIG SPLASH Awards Gala hosted by , which was held at the John Bassett Theatre in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Ryan Cochrane from Victoria B.C. and from , Que. were named Canada’s male and female swimmers of the year.

Here Ryan Cochrane accepts his award for Canada’s Male Swimmer of the Year.

Ryan won 2 gold medals at this year’s in Delhi, India. He swam for gold in the 400-metre Freestyle in 00:03:48.59 and the 1,500-metre freestyle in 15:01.49.

Audrey Lacroix, Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year , won a silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly in 2:07.31 at the Commonwealth Games.

"I wasn't having the best start to the year and the help of my teammates and coach really pushed me to overcome those obstacles and perform to the top of my abilities at the Commonwealth Games," said Lacroix at the gala.

Brent Hayden from Mission, B.C., also won 2 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games this year. His gold medal performances were in his 50-metre freestyle where he swam it in 22.01 and his 100- metre freestyle race that made him the fastest in the world was swam in an amazing time of 47.98.

Here Brent is celebrating in Delhi his gold medal win in the 100-metre freestyle and the Big Splash Race of the Year. Brent told the audience, “I am now working towards more medals at the Olympic Games in 2012.” It was an amazing event for the MAC swimmers and parents who came out to represent our club. The evenings MC was Trevor Boris from Much Music and his comedic talent really kept the crowd laughing throughout the night. Trevor got the show started as he came out on to the stage dressed appropriately only wearing a men’s jammer bathing suit. Here is Trevor after the show with one of our MAC swimmers.

There were many inspiring speeches made by the winning athletes and coaches as well as sports commentators. Our swimmers were made to feel that anything is possible and to dream big .

Other great Canadian athletes in attendance were: Anamay Pierse, Alex Baumann and Anne Ottenbrite just to name a few.

The evening also had great performances including local Toronto singer songwriter, Jesse LeBelle and Juno winner Shawn Desman who finished off the night electrifying the audience singing two of his hit songs “Shiver” and “Night Like This,” which brought the swimmers running to the stage and jumping up - dancing and singing along with Shawn and his group of dancers.

After the show was over our Canadian top athletes stayed to meet our swimmers and sign autographs. The only disappointment of the evening was that even though we had a block of 60 tickets put aside for us, only a few of Markham Aquatic Club members were in the audience including coach Brian, Amanda and Kathleen FitzPatrick, Paige and Madeline Paradkar and Rebekah Boscariol.

Next year we hope that many more MAC swimmers will take this great opportunity to come out to this event and show our MAC spirit!!

…For more photos and videos see the following 2 pages….

Anne Ottenbrite – 3 time 1984 Olympic winner (Gold 200m breaststroke, Silver 100m breaststroke and Bronze 4x100m Medley Relay).

Brent Hayden - signing autographs and towering over two MAC swimmers.

Annamay Pierse – 200-metre breaststroke world record holder for both Long Course and Short Course.

MAC swimmers really enjoyed singing along with Shawn Desmon and received many top swimmer autographs for their MAC caps and t-shirts.

Ryan Cochrane – Canadian Male Swimmer of the Year poses with MAC swimmers

Juno Award Winner – Shawn Desman – Meets some of his fans

Videos to watch:

Shawn Desman – Performing at BIG SPLASH – “Shiver” and “Night Like This.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bwyF7hILd0

Brent Hayden’s 100-metre Freestyle - Race of the Year – New Delhi, India - Commonwealth Games 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDK0tsElTrA

Audrey Lacroix’s 200-metre Butterfly – Golden race – New Delhi, India – Commonwealth Games 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17GlnwVyznI

Ryan Cochrane’s 1500-metre Freestyle – Golden Race - New Delhi, India – Commonwealth Games 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCLxG4zrwtY

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